


The Noise Upstairs

by RandomPanda



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Humor, POV First Person, Present Tense, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-13
Updated: 2020-05-13
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:07:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,658
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24154804
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RandomPanda/pseuds/RandomPanda
Summary: Three loud thuds from the floor above my room this late at night. No, wait—four thuds, plus some shouting. And a weird screech. Or maybe a squawk.What in the world is going on up there?
Comments: 4
Kudos: 25





	The Noise Upstairs

Three loud thuds from the floor above my room this late at night. No, wait—four thuds, plus some shouting. And a weird screech. Or maybe a squawk.

What in the world is going on up there?

If memory serves, Sylvain’s room is right above mine. Dimitri, Felix, Claude, and Lorenz are in the same wing. The noise isn’t coming from inside Sylvain’s room, but it’s close. The thuds, scratches, and shuffles come at frantic intervals, but nothing sounds quite like roughhousing.

I should make sure it’s not roughhousing, or even something worse. But, how to get up there quickly…?

Oh, right. The Sword of the Creator can extend like a whip. I found this out earlier today by tearing off a tree branch a good two and a half meters away. It took some effort to pry the tip out of the trunk, too. I probably would’ve had it out sooner if I’d given it more thought, but I know better now. So long as I don’t put too much strength behind it, I should be able to jump onto the second-floor scaffolding without damaging anything too much.

More shouting breaks my train of thought. Sounds like some of the girls are involved. Time to move.

I pull the Sword of the Creator from the corner of my desk and rush outside. I clear the steps and pivot to face the dorms. No one else is about, and the gap over the railing looks large enough for me to slip through. I swing the sword, and the blade breaks into whip form. The tip latches onto the roof of the second-floor scaffolding, and I jump. In a few seconds, I’m on the scaffolding with the sword back in normal form, leaving me staring straight into Sylvain’s room.

He's in night clothes, hovering by the door. “I told you, it just ran out!”

“Don’t shout so loud!” cries one of the girls. Hilda, I think. “Wait, he went down the hall!”

Nothing looks out of place. Might as well ask now that I’m here. “Hey. What’s going on?”

Sylvain screams as if his parents just showed up, jumping back and almost crashing into someone in the hall. “GAH! P-Professor Byleth! What are you doing out there?”

“I heard a lot of noise and wondered what was up,” I answer. “Is anyone hurt?”

“Not hurt, no,” Sylvain replies, stiff as a board. “Just startled by a little white animal running around and _you_ being at my window.”

The person he crashed into, Dimitri, pokes his head in from behind the doorway. “Professor? Why and how are you out there?”

“Out _where_?” asks a third voice. In the next instant, Edelgard almost bowls Sylvain over and stops beside Dimitri. If she were exasperated before, her mood changes to completely dumbstruck. Her expression matches Dimitri’s now.

Anyway, I should answer the question. I hold up the Sword of the Creator and say, “I used this. It was faster.”

I’m sure Dimitri tries to say, “The Sword of the Creator?” but he’s too caught up between gasping, shouting, and laughing to spout anything but hoarse breaths.

Edelgard gives one slow nod. “W-well, you won’t need it for this situation.”

Some kind of squawk pierces the air, reminiscent of a large lizard except small and high-pitched. Tiny, even. And it’s coming from farther down the hall.

On second thought, the stairs might’ve been the more practical option. Oh, well. Hindsight.

I’m at the far end of the dorm, so I follow the length of the wall. I walk fast since running might agitate the scaffolding. I take a quick peek through each window on the way, checking for the source of the squawk. Thank goodness I don’t catch anyone in a state of undress. Felix stands with his back pressed firm against his door, Ferdinand peers into the hall, Hubert appears confounded to see me, and Caspar snores away. Lorenz’s hair also looks worse than usual, but that’s it.

When I zero in on the squawk, I’m at the window of Hilda’s room. I spot Claude straight across and through the doorway, standing in the hall. In his arms, he holds what I presume is the white animal Sylvain mentioned, no bigger than a cat. Light shimmers off a scaly hide, though. Any other questions about the animal’s identity disappear as a small wing wriggles out of Claude’s arms and whaps him in the face.

He takes it in stride, petting the small wyvern’s head and back without missing a beat. “It’s okay now. No one’s going to hurt you.”

Huh. Curious. “Claude? Is that a baby wyvern?”

He goes rigid, and he stays like this while turning to me. “H-hey, Teach. Fancy seeing you here. At this hour. Out there.”

“Yeah. Not one of the usual spots.”

Claude stifles a laugh. In the silence that follows, Hilda, Edelgard, Dimitri, Lorenz, and Sylvain all close in, though they keep a noticeable distance.

“Anyway…” Claude’s eyes dart between the white wyvern and me. “This little guy is indeed a baby wyvern.”

“Where did it come from?” I ask.

“Believe me, we’re all wondering,” Lorenz grumbles, tousling some faintly burnt hair. No one looks in his direction.

“It was during the latest training session,” Claude says. “You know how you were trying to pull the Sword of the Creator out of the tree? Well, at the same time, I spotted this little guy in the woods nearby.” As if in response, the wyvern squirms a bit and stares at me. “I think he might’ve been left behind. I couldn’t find a nest, and I didn’t see any wyverns that weren’t one of the monastery’s. And, uh, the little guy started following me anyhow.”

“He wouldn’t stop, either,” Hilda cuts in, but then her voice takes on a dreamy tone. “You should’ve seen Claude’s face. I knew he’d say it before he said it: ‘I can’t just leave him alone.’ Ah, it was so cute!”

Speaking of Claude’s face, it’s quite red now. “Er, yeah. What she said. So as to what happened here…I thought he’d gone to sleep, but I was wrong. He crawled out from under my bed and started scurrying everywhere. Couldn’t quite catch enough air to start flying, though.”

“And we should be immensely grateful!” shouts Lorenz. “The beastly thing almost set my hair on fire!”

Sylvain scoffs. “That’d be an improvement.”

“Excuse me?”

Dimitri steps between them, at once resigned but stern. “At any rate, we’ve spent quite a while trying to catch the baby wyvern. I apologize for disturbing you, and no doubt everyone else in the dorms.”

Edelgard nods. “Indeed. I’m afraid we did a poor job of staying calm and quiet. Please excuse us, Professor Byleth.”

“It’s fine. I hadn’t gone to sleep yet.” I gesture to Claude, though I don’t know if anyone sees it. “Do you plan to keep the baby wyvern in your room?”

“For now, yeah.” Claude gives the wyvern a few more pats. “I know he won’t fit here forever, but I thought to let him stay in my room for a while. I couldn’t think of another safe place. He didn’t seem to like the wyvern stables, either, but it was only one visit so far.”

“Nah, he just likes you.” Hilda claps her hands together. “He might think you’re his mom!”

Sylvain arcs an eyebrow. “Don’t you mean ‘dad?’”

“Either way, the wyvern is clearly attached,” Edelgard points out. “I know little of wyvern care, but the stablemasters might know what to do. You’re right that he’ll outgrow the dorms someday. Best to prepare for it sooner rather than later.”

“Exactly my thoughts.” Claude makes a couple nods. The wyvern tucks his head under his chin, eliciting a few giggles. “Still, I’m sorry for tonight. I’ll see about keeping the little guy calm and happy.”

“What will you do with him while you’re in class?” I ask.

He turns sheepish. “I’m not sure. Hilda’s not kidding. He doesn’t like being too far from me, and he kind of let me catch him just now. But…”

With a little thought, a solution comes to me pretty fast. “We can put the wyvern somewhere in the classroom while he’s still small. When he gets bigger, we’ll see about letting him stay in the courtyard if we have to. You can get him used to the other wyverns by spending some time at the stables each day.”

Claude dons a smile—not one of his usual half-hearted ones, but a genuine smile, small and warm. Edelgard and Dimitri show similar smiles.

It’s a different look for the three of them. A good kind of different.

And Claude keeps it while saying, “I’ll do that. Thanks, Teach.” Some of his usual laidback demeanor returns, and he nods to me. “So, how’d you get out there? That’s not a place where people usually go.”

I hold up the Sword of the Creator again. “I used this.”

Every single person in the gathered crowd dons the same face. The same frozen, nonplussed face. No one so much as twitches, sans the yawning baby wyvern.

At length, Claude makes a very slow nod. “I see. And how do you plan to get down?”

I pop a shoulder up and down. “I’ll figure something out.”

Once everyone starts retiring to their rooms, I walk back the way I came. When I reach my end of the dorms, I latch the tip of the sword to the corner of the steps leading to the sauna. I swing down and land without trouble, although I have to double back to my room.

It's after I set the sword beside my desk when I realize I may have to explain away more than the presence of a baby white wyvern in class. Someone’s bound to ask about the nicks and dents near my room.

Tomorrow might prove a very busy day.

**Author's Note:**

> This may or may not have rolled off the amusing observation that Byleth brought a legendary sword of immense destructive power to a mock battle. A school mock battle.
> 
> Also, baby animals are cute.


End file.
